kez & hay travels 06

As I flew back, Claudine flew in to meet up down under.  After celebrating our reunion and seeing the sights in Sydney, we hired a car to head up the east coast.  We drove through what seemed to be the greenest part of Australia, passing fields and ranches.  Three days on the road and we'd already drove the length of England but here only covered a fraction of the east coast.  We stayed a night in both Newcastle and Coffs Harbour before reaching Surfers Paradise and the state of Queensland.  Surfers Paradise, and it is, well at least for the professionals judging by the size of the waves.  We were out numbered by Schoolies, (school leavers to us) who descend on the town in November and turn it into party central to celebrate the end of school...... so we helped them!  The beach is enormous, one of the longest in the world and although surrounded by skyscrapers is beautiful. Definitely not a place to relax!

CRIKEY..... We arrived at the Crocodile Hunter's home from Surfers and spent the day watching the famous croc show, feeding the Kangeroos and hugging Koalas. From here we drove to the chic town of Noosa and the next day had a well earned day of rest sunbathing and watching the surfers on the beach. 

Then further north to Hervey Bay, gateway to the world's biggest sand island, Fraser Island.  We stayed two nights and a day soaking up the sun and watching the sunsets in Hervey Bay before boarding the ferry for Fraser.  This island is World Heritage listed and it doesn't take long to realise why once you're off the boat. The only way to get around is by 4WD as the roads are single, sand tracks. Fortunately for the other road users, we decided not to get behind the wheel ourselves and joined a tour with an experienced driver.  The island is heaving with rainforests, sand dunes, dingoes, exotic birds and holds some 200 fresh water lakes.  No crocs here so swimming in the lakes is paradise but the the sea is lethal with undertow currents and man eating sharks!  Driving around was an experience in itself, from 10mph crawling over sand dunes and nearly overturning to speeding through the sea across the never ending beach.  We spent an hour at Lake McKenzie, the most spectacular lake on the island. A real blue lagoon surrounded by crystal white sands. Then explored the Japanese ship wreck and cooled off in the fresh water creeks before heading back to the mainland.

Our next stop was the hippy laid back town, Rainbow Beach.  Apart from sunbathing on the immense and empty beach, we found a huge sandblow to climb.  A 120m high dune on a hill overlooking the town, where locals go to sand surf and travellers for the breathtaking view.

Wanting to see more of the clear, turquoise waters, we booked for a snorkelling trip around Moreton Island.  The deliberately sunk Tangalooma Wrecks were perfect for Claudine's first snorkelling experience, full of life and colour.  The day ended "Boomnetting", being dragged along by the boat at 35mph on a net, holding on for your life (and bikini!) and trying not to swallow a gallon of sea water!

With only a few days left before what we thought was the end of Claudine's trip, we headed for Brisbane, leaving the car in Byron Bay.  But.... not wanting to leave me or this beautiful country, her passport was lost and so we had an extra three days together and I dusted off my consular duty skills to put to use again!!!

Our journey to the outback didn't start off quite as planned. The train that we were supposed to take was cancelled due to a derailment and so we had to take the bus..... It wasn't until 21 hours and around 1000 miles later that we arrived in Alice Springs, a town in the middle of nowhere with 40 degrees heat!

Two days later we headed off on an outback safari and an adventure of a life time.  With two Germans, three French and an Aussie guide as companions, the first stop was the awe-inspiring Uluru once known as Ayres Rock.  With nothing else around for miles except sandy scrublands, Uluru, the worlds biggest monolith, stretches 3.6 km long and rises 348 miles high.  Words cannnot describe the sight you are met with from the distance and as you edge closer you can feel and understand why this area holds such deep cultural values for the Aboriginal people.  We walked around the base, every section of the rock has a different colour, texture and story behind it.  Although one of Australia's main attractions, we only crossed two other people on the way around which just added to the atmosphere.  We watched the sunset from a lookout and saw the rock change from brown to orange to red and finally to charcoal with a glass of bubbly in our hands.  Next stop was our bush camp for the evening where we cooked on an open fire and slept under thousands of stars in just sleeping bags - to tired and inspired from the day to worry about creepy crawlies, even after seeing a red back in the toilets!!!

We were awoken at 4am to the sounds of howling Dingoes in the distance, so although still dark we packed up camp and headed to see the sunrise.  We did two, four hour treks over the following days both finishing at about 10am before the blistering sun had time to come out.  The first was to Kata Tjuta, meaning many heads, trekking through a collection of huge rounded rocks.  Then the last day to Watarrka (Kings Canyon) with it's 100 metre high sheer cliffs and maze of giant eroded domes which look like bee-hives.  

After three days in the bush and only an outback dunny for comfort, the hostel felt like the Hilton on our return. The last days in Alice were spent souvenir hunting and visiting the baby Kangaroo rescue centre - sooo cute I'm bringing one home!!

After taking the night bus from Canberra, I arrived in Melbourne. Tired eyed after yet another sleepless night of travel, I met up with lisa (met in Vietnam) who is to be my travel and drinking companion for the next few weeks.

Although exhausted there's no rest for backpackers and it was straight out to "Neighbours Night" that evening. It was as cheesy as it sounds but great fun meeting Toadie - asking him why he lost the mullet? (after 3 glasses of wine) and dancing wildly to Doctor Carl and his band "The Waiting Room" (after a bottle). The next day was spent strolling around Melbourne, taking in the atmosphere of Austrailia's artistic and sporting capital. With old fashion trams running through the streets and small boats cruising the Yarra River it was easy to relax and feel welcome. We headed to St Kilda for the next few days, only a 10 minute tram ride from the city but away from the crowds and next to the beach - what more could you ask for. We thought it was time to move on though when we started getting recognised as "local Sheilas" - especially in the 4 dollar pizza parlour. The Great Ocean Road was to be our next destination and best of all a bright pink Barbie campervan was to be our transport!!

We took to the road with 8 days to make it to Adelaide. The Barbie mobil was a hit from the start with fellow travellers, getting laughs, stares and even photos! With the tunes pumping we roared (tractor engine, I think) through familiar named towns such as Torquay, Anglesea, Peterborough and Swadlincote (as if). The Great Ocean Road is described as one of the world's most spectacular coastal drives and you can see why with the long stretches of ocean beaches and rugged cliffs on one side contrast with lush forrested areas on the other. We spent 5 days exploring and camping along this tourist route, viewing dramatic limestone cliffs. The most popular being the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge. The Apostles are rocks in the ocean which have been abandoned by the eroding mainland to the sea. Only 7 can be seen now as over time the others have disappeared after being constanly pounded by the waves. London Bridge was once one rock platform linked to the mainland but it collapsed in 1990 with tourists on it!

Wanting to give Barbie and her engine a rest from the sea air we headed into bushland and The Grampians. We drove for miles down scorched tree lined roads passing only Kangeroos and Emus. This was an area hit by bush fires only years ago. Trying to put "Blair Witch" and "Wolf Creek" thoughts to the back of our minds, we camped down for the night, comforted with sausages and beans a la bunsen burner. The next day we visited the many lookouts over the wide bushland but no trekking as it rained the whole day.

We crossed states into South Austrailia on schedule, stopping off in the relaxed fishing port called Robe and the Belair National Park before reaching Adelaide - in need of a good wash!

Next stop, the Outback to discover the Red Centre.............